tobey



(No Modem 3' sheets-slim 1. W L TOBNBY STREET SMB-EPEE PatentdY SepA-t. l11, 1894.

WMITOb'e,

(No Model.) 3 sheets-sheet 2,

W. L; T0BBY. STREET SWEEPER.

No. 525,751. Patented Sept. 11,1894.

*me ons mul on. monnmcm rundum. :I c.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

W L TBEY `IMBERTswrzrlm.

Patented Sept. 11, 1894..

UNITED STATES.

j PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM L. TOBEY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNI- VERSAL STREET SWEEPING MACHINE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

STREET-SWEEPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 525,751, dated September 11 1894.

Application filed December 29, 1893. Serial No.495,078 l (No model.) I

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. TQBEY, of Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Sweeping-Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters and figures on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object the production of a sweeping machine which will sweep up the dirt in an eicient and rapid manner, and will thereafter collect the sweepings in a suitable receptacle carried by the machine, said receptacle being so arrangedl that it can be readily dischargedwhen full into a cart, or in a pile, as desired;

In accordance therewith my invention con# sists, in a sweeping machine, of a sweeper brush to collect the sweepings, a pivotally supported pan having an independent curved bottom pivoted to the sides of the pan and adapted to rest upon and trail over the surface to be swept just in advancel of the loading brush, and a cylindrical loading brush to force the sweepings over said bottom and pan onto a conveyerto convey the sweepings to a suitable receptacle, substantially as will be described.

Other features of myinvention will be hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partially broken out, of a sweeping machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a top or plan view thereof; and Fig. 3 is arearelevation of a sutiicient part of the machine shown in Fig. 2, to be understood, to moreparticularly show the receptacle for the sweepings and the mechanism for raising and lowering it.

I have herein shown my invention as embodied in a frame A, of suitable shape to support the operating parts to be described, the said frame being preferably constructed of channel iron suitably bolted together and provided with suitable beariugs to be referred to, front and rear braces A and A2 maintaining the frame rigid.

Brackets asecured to the sides of the frame form bearings a', shown in dotted lines Fig.

the shaft, the hubsa of said wheels being provided at their inner sides with like pawls 0,2x to engage ratchet wheels asx fast on the main shaft a3, so that retrograde movement of the machine will not rotate the main shaft, and by means of the pawl and ratchet connections the apparatus can turn sharpcorners very easily, the main shaft being rotated by the wheels B as the machine is drawn along over the surface to be swept.

; A suitable traction wheel B is swiveled to the front of the frame by a suit-able bracket ax, see Fig. l, the machine being guided in its movements by means of said traction wheel.4

The sweeper brush C, of any usual or desired construction, Vis arranged diagonally with relation to the path of movement of the machine, as best shown in Fig. 2, the axis c of the brush projecting beyond the ends thereof and having bearings c attached to the lower ends of depending links c2, said links being in turn pivotally connected'to arms c3 of a rock-shaft c4 mounted in sleeve-like bearings ci7 secured to the frame A, said rock-shaft hav ing attached thereto an actuating lever c, by means of which the sweeper brush may be raised or lowered to adjust it to the surface to be swept, or to raise the brush altogether from contacttherewith. v

A suitable notched or other segment c7 is adapted to be engaged by the lever c to hold the brush at the desired elevation.

A bent arm A3 is pivotally supported at one end by the rportion of the shaft a3 projecting beyond the hub of the supporting wheel B, the other end of the arm terminating in the bearing c', hereinbefore described, while an arm a* has formed in it the other bearing c at the opposite end of the sweeper brush, said arm being pivoted on a shaft to be described. In order to give greater rigidity to the arm A3, a brace A5 is rigidly secured thereto near one end, the other end of the brace being pivoted to the frame at A6, see Fig. 2. The arms A3 and A4 thus form a strong'and durable supporting frame for the sweeper brush, the pivotal arrangement of said arms enabling the brush to rise and fall as it passes over inequalities in the surface to be swept.

Referring to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the leading end of the sweeper brush projects beyond the supporting wheel B at that side of the machine, so that the machine may be broughtvery close to a curb or wall and sweep the space adjacent thereto.

An actuating shaft CZ is supported in a bearing d', see Figs. 2, and 3, secured to the bracket a and in a bearing cl2 on a depending lug or bracket d3 secured to the main frame A, said shaft projecting beyond the bearing d2 to receive thereon loosely the upper end of the su pporting arm A4herein before described. A beveled gear d4 is secured to the actuating shaft d in mesh with a large bevel gear d5 mounted upon the shaft a3 of the machine, and connected therewith by a suitable clutch d, the said clutch being thrown into or out of operation by a bent lever Z7 capable of being operated from the forward part of the frame, so that the rotation of the actuating shaft d is directly under the control of the driver or person operating the apparatus.

A sprocket or other suitable wheel d8 is secured to the actuating shaft cl, and a similar sprocket wheel d9 is secured to the rearmost end of the shaft c on the sweeper brush, said sprocket wheels being connected by a suitable link or lchain belt d10 whereby when the machine is drawn forward or to the right viewing Figs. 1 and 2, and the clutch d is in engagement with the gear wheel d5, the rotary movement imparted to the main shaft a3 of the machine will be transferred to the actuating shaft CZ and thence to the sweeper brush, rotating the same in the direction of the arrow -10 Fig. 1 and at a comparatively slow speed, to thereby sweep up the surface passed over by the machine, the diagonal arrangement of the brush with relation to the path of movement of the machine collecting and carrying the sweepings over to the rearmost end of the sweeper brush and throwing the sweepings so collected against a shield e suspended from the frame by flexible connections e, the forward end of the shield being rounded as at e2 to readily surmount slight obstacles, the sweepings delivered against the vertical inner face of this shield being left thereby in a species of windrow as the machine is moved ahead, and the flexible connections e permit the shield to move laterally if desired.

Depending arms D and D are pivotally mounted upon a shaft D2 to be described, bearings f being formed at the lower ends of said arms to receive therein the ends of the shaft f of arotatable loading brush F, the arms being connected by the chains or other fiexible connections f2 to arms f 3 secured to a rock-shaftf4 mounted upon the frame A. An actuating lever f5'pivoted to the frame at f 6 is connected by a link f7 to an arm f8 of said rock-shaft whereby the loading brush F may be raised or lowered.

Viewing Fig. 1, it will be noticed that the iiexible connections f2 hang slack when the loading brush rests upon the surface to be swept, in order that it may also rest upon said surface whether the same be smooth or irregular. Were the said connections rigid, such as rods, the loading brush would be lifted from the ground every time the front of the machine descended into a hollow, and in consequence, a portion of the sweepings would not be engaged by the loading brush.

The main shaft a3 of the machine supports loosely a gear g adapted to be engaged at times by a suitable clutch gp', see Fig. 2, to rotate with the said mainsh'aft, theclutch being controlled by an actuating lever g2, and the shaft D2 supported in suitable bearings on the frame has fast thereon a gear g3 in engagement with the gear g and to be rotated thereby, while a sprocket wheel g is secured to the shaft D2 beyond the frame of the machine. A smaller sprocket wheel g5 is secured to the shaft f of the loading brush F and said sprockets are connected by link belt or chain ge, so that rotation of the shaft D2 is communicated to the loading brush F to r0- tate the same in the direction of the arrow 20 Fig. 1. This loading brush, as best shown in Fig. 2, is located behind and near the rearmost end of the sweeper brush C to load the sweepings into a trailing dust-pan to be described, whence they are conveyed to a suitable receptacle or hopper to be described.

A conveyer or elevator chute G, 'partially broken out in Fig. 1 and composed of a suitable frame-work, preferably covered with sheet iron, is rigidly secured to the framework A of the machine by suitable bolts 3, best shown in Fig. 3, a shaft h passing through and having bearings formed for it in the lower part of the conveyer chute, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the said shaft h extending beyond the conveyer chute for' some distance at the rear of the machine, its outer end being supported in a suitable bearing at the lower end of a bracket h' depending from the main frame, rotation being transmitted to the shaft h by a suitable belt h passing over sprocket or other suitable wheels h3 and h4 fast on the shafts h and as respectively.

The conveyer is herein shown as an endless series of connected buckets h5, see Fig. 1, pass ing around an enlarged portion of the shaft h, within the conveyer chute, and at the upper end over an adjustable roll h6 having its bearings in sliding blocks 71,7, regulated b v an adjusting screw hs, whereby slack in the series of conveyer buckets h5 can be taken up.

The upper end of the conveyer chute G is notched to form a hood G inturned toward the center of the machine and having an inclined bottom 71,9, a narrow iiap h10 pivoted at A h to the side of the chute forming a continuation of the bottom h9 and being adapted to be turned up when the hopper is raised to empty it, as will be described hereinafter.

A trailing dust-pan His pivoted at H to the lbase of the chute, which latter is open at its rear side adjacent the loading brush F, the vertical sides of the dust-pan H extending below the axis of and quite near the ends of the loading brush, the portion H2 of the bottom of the pan being independently pivoted at 50 to the vertical sides the of.

The loading brush F gathers up the sweepings left in a windrow by the sweeper brush C and by its rapid rotation throws the sweepings up over the bottom of the trailing pan,

and into the open end of the conveyer chute,

to be gathered up and carried by the series' of buckets h5 to the top of the chute and there discharged through the hood G. As the pan is pivoted at H it is free to rise and fall with the inequalities of the surface being swept, and the independently pivoted portion H2 of the bottom of said pan will yield somewhat should the machine be pushed backward for any reason, thus obviating any possibility of breakage.

In order to collect the sweepings in a convenient receptacle as they are delivered from the hood G', I have provided a hopper K having at its front and rear sides trunnions k, to which are pivotally connected supporting arms k', the other ends of the arms loosely embracing a shaft k2 supported in bearings on brackets los extended upwardly from the main frame A, said shaft having fast thereon at one end preferably, and as herein shown the front, a gear 7a4 in engagement with a smaller gear 205 on a crank shaft k6 and rotated by a suitable crank k", retrograde movement of the crank shaft being prevented by the pawl and ratchet mechanism 3 and 4, of any usual construction.

The hopper K is pivotally supported on its trunnions k so that it can be tipped upon them as a center and it can also be raised on the supporting arms k to a position above the wheels B of the machine, as shown in dotted lines Fig. 3, by mechanism to be described so that it may be tipped on its trunnions to be emptied. When in its normal full line position, the pivoted apron h10 rests upon the top of and projects slightly into the hopper, so that the sweepings will readily pass from the hood G to the hopper.

Tracks m are secured to the cross braces A and A2 and to the brackets k3, to receive thereupon rotatable rolls 'm' mounted upon suitable studs 'm2 secured to the lower ends of links m3 loosely surrounding the trunnions k of the hopper; and to an ear m4 secured to or forming a part of each link mi I have secured an actuator, herein shown as an endless belt or chain m5 passing over guides m and m7, secured to the braces A', A2, and to the tracks m respectively, the belt or chain also passing over a suitable sprocket or other wheel m8 fast on the shaft 71:2.

The upper ends of the tracks m. are uptracks m into the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3, such movement swinging the arms Zo and elevating the hopper, when it will be held in such elevated position by the pawl and ratchet 3, 4. A cart or wagon may then be drawn up alongside of the machine and the hopper tipped and its contents dumped therein, after which the pawl and ratchet will be released and the hopper will return to its normal position, the pivoted apron hw permitting the movement of the hopper described.

It will be noticed that the various actuating levers or cranks are brought to the forward part of the machine where the drivers seat would be placed, to be readily reached by him without interfering with his other duties.

I claim- 1. In a sweeping machine, a sweeper brush to collect the sweepings, a pivotally supported pan having an independent curved bottom pivoted to the sides of the pan and adapted to rest upon and trail over the surface to be swept just in advance of the loading brush, and a cylindrical loading brush to force the sweepings over said bottom and pan onto a conveyer to convey the sweepings to a suitable receptacle, substantially as described.

2. In a sweeping machine, a sweeper brush, a loading brush, a hopper for the sweepings, and swinging arms to which the hopper is pivoted, combined with actuating mechanism connected to and to raise the hopper and swing thearms, to thereby move the hopper to abnormal elevated position thatit may be turned upon its pivots to discharge its contents, and a conveyer to convey the sweepings thereto from the loading brush, substantially as described.

3. In a sweeping machine, a sweeper brush,

IOO

IIO

a loading brush, a hopper, supporting arms pivoted to the hopper and to the machine, actuating mechanism connected to and to raise thehopper and turn said arms, to thereby elevate and carry the hopper to one side of the machine into position to be emptied, and a locking device for the actuating mechanism, combined with a conveyer to convey the sweepings from the loading brush to the hopper, and a hinged flap normally projecting from the conveyer chute over the hopper, upward movement of the latter turning the flap out of its path, substantially as described.

4. In a sweeping machine, a sweeping and a loading brush, and a conveyer to convey the sweepings from the loading brush to the hopper, combined with a hopper, swinging arms to which it is pivoted, fixed inclined tracks, rolls Vpivotally connected by links Vto the hopper and adapted to move along said,

tracks, and actuating mechanism connected to and to move theY rolls upon the tracks to raise the hopper and swing the arms, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my.; name to this specification in theV presence o ,lo two subscribing witnesses.V

WM.V L. TOBEY.

Witnesses:

GEO. W. GREGORY, JOHN C. EDWARDS. 

